Wang Hongwen

Wang Hongwen (December 1935-3 August 1992) was Vice Chairman of the Communist Party of China from 30 August 1973 to 6 October 1976. He was notably a member of the "Gang of Four" during the Cultural Revolution.

Biography
Wang Hongwen was born in Changchun, China in 1935, and he served in the People's Liberation Army during the Korean War. After the war, he headed the security guards regiment of a textile mill, where he met Zhang Chunqiao and joined the Red Guards. He organized the Shanghai Commune in January 1967, and he became a prominent rebel leader. In 1969, he was elected as a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and he became Vice Chairman in 1973. He was trained as Mao Zedong's successor, and he was rumored to be slated to become Premier following Zhou Enlai's death in 1976. However, the moderate Hua Guofeng was chosen to succeed Zhou instead, and Hua had Wang and the three other members of the "Gang of Four" arrested in a coup after Mao's death. He died of liver cancer in a Beijing hospital in 1992.